Noteworthy

With his stunning performance of The Code, Switzerland‘s Nemo won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden. The non-binary artist convinced both the jury and the public to vote for them.

With his participation, the former rapper Nemo Mettler, who lives in Berlin and started focusing on English lyrics, followed in the footsteps of Luca Hänni (4th place), Gjon's Tears (3rd place), Marius Bear (17th place) and Remo Forrer (20th place) and was fighting for the fifth Swiss ESC final qualification in a row.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest took place in Malmö from 7 to 11 May 2024, after Loreen won in 2023 in Liverpool with the song Tattoo.

On February 26, the Swiss newspaper «Blick» reported, citing multiple sources, that Nemo (24) will compete for Switzerland at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 in Malmö, Sweden. The Swiss public broadcaster SRF did not comment on the report, as the official announcement, including the song's premiere, will be made later that week.

As we now know, the reports were confirmed by the announcement that Nemo will participate in the contest with the song The Code. Watch the video clip here:

According to the initial report, SRF's show director, Yves Schifferle, announced on Instagram that Switzerland would not be represented by a man with a ballad, as was the case for the previous three years.

Last year, Nemo announced that they identify as non-binary—followed by the single release This Body.

On Instagram, Nemo wrote: «I haven’t opened up about it publicly, but some of you already know: I don’t identify as a man or a woman. I’m just Nemo. I love thinking of gender as a galaxy, picturing myself as a little star floating somewhere within. That’s where I feel most like myself.»

From Dialect Rapper To Sensitive Singer-Songwriter

The song own sh¡t, released in May 2022, already signified a path towards quirky pop music, away from Nemo's origin in dialect rap sound.

The artist, born in 1999, showed early talent in music—playing the violin, the piano, and drums. With a celebrated participation at the SRF Bounce Cypher in 2016, only 16 years old, Nemo jumped into public consciousness.

2017, Nemo's single Du reached platin status.

Switzerland's independent music scene has chosen the «Album of the Year» for the ninth time: This year's music prize, awarded by IndieSuisse, the association of independent Swiss music labels and producers, goes to the album The Universe Is Black by Malummí, which was chosen by a 28-member jury. The award will be presented at the m4music Festival in Zurich.

In November, all IndieSuisse members had the opportunity to nominate two releases from their catalogue of albums released in 2023 for the IndieSuisse Album of the Year and the Futuristic Perspective Award. For the latter, the members had to argue why the album they nominated offers a futuristic perspective.

Out of a total of 19 nominated albums, The Universe Is Black by Malummí was voted into first place by an independent jury of Swiss and European industry specialists. When selecting the jury, attention was paid to a diverse composition.

Following their debut album Blood (2021), Basel-based project Malummí released their second album The Universe Is Black in November 2023. It marks a departure from the quiet and soft electronic-coloured pop of the debut and ventures into a broader alternative rock sound. The familiar elements of intimate folk-pop with the distinctive, expressive vocals remain.

The Universe Is Black, by Malummí

10 track album

MalummíBandcamp New & Notable Oct 31, 2021

On the new album, Malummí applied new forms of composition and arrangement, breaking away from stylistic conventions. The new album is characterised by a captivating blend of minimalist, experimental indie rock and warm folk-pop, and explores different forms of relationships: to oneself, to other people, to society.

Influenced by personal experiences, it deals with themes such as self-love, mental health, rebirth and the joy of living. The Universe Is Black also takes a critical look at social constructs in a patriarchal, white society.

The m4music Festival is one of the most significant events in Switzerland's music industry. During two days, the festival provides a range of panels, discussions, and workshops and a wide variety of up-and-coming artists from around the globe.

New Artists In The Line-up

Today, the m4music announced additional acts which complement the already communicated line-up. Here are the latest announcements:

Friday, March 22nd

• Aime Simone
• Éna Vera
• Leila
• Mount Jacinto
• Natascha Polké
• Polarbæren

Saturday, March 23rd

• Edb
• Nathalie Fröhlich
• Wa22ermann
• Sam Quealy

On November 29, 2023, m4music announced the first round of acts in their line-up. Here are all the acts you can expect alongside our personal recommendations within the line-up:

Friday, March 22nd

• Noemi Beza
• Mary Middlefield [Negative White recommended]
• Berq
• Deadletter [Negative White recommended]
• Siren of Lesbos
• Bipolar Feminin
• Dave Okumu & The Seven Generations
• Benjamin Amaru
• Yunè Pinku
• Fulmine
• Teezo Touchdown
• Sofia Kourtesis live
• UTO

Saturday, March 23rd

• Moonpools [Negative White recommended]
• Obliecht
• Hannah Jadagu [Negative White recommended]
• Ray Laurél
• BARON.E [Negative White recommended]
• EKKSTACY
• Julia Alexa
• Say She She
• Steintor Herrenchor
• Bibiza
• Barry Can't Swim live
• Nnavy

The Chinese social media company TikTok published an aggressive-sounding statement: «It is sad and disappointing that Universal Music Group has put their own greed above the interests of their artists and songwriters.»

It is the answer to Universal Music Group's (UMG) announcement that they will pull their entire music catalogue from the platform—including artists like Taylor Swift, Elton John, or Billie Eilish. It is the result of an ending contract with no follow-up agreement between UMG and TikTok

UMG also published an open letter to the artist and songwriter community, revealing their position:

With respect to the issue of artist and songwriter compensation, TikTok proposed paying our artists and songwriters at a rate that is a fraction of the rate that similarly situated major social platforms pay. 

Today, as an indication of how little TikTok compensates artists and songwriters, despite its massive and growing user base, rapidly rising advertising revenue and increasing reliance on music-based content, TikTok accounts for only about 1% of our total revenue.

Another concern on UMG's part is the rise of AI-generated music on the platform.

UMG also states that TikTok «attempted to bully us into accepting a deal worth less than the previous deal.» According to the major label, TikTok tried to intimitate them by «selectively removing the music of certain of our developing artists, while keeping on the platform our audience-driving global stars.»

Further, UMG continues: «TikTok’s tactics are obvious: use its platform power to hurt vulnerable artists and try to intimidate us into conceding to a bad deal that undervalues music and shortchanges artists and songwriters as well as their fans.»

In response, TikTok argues against what they deem to be «Universal's false narrative and rhetoric» and claim that they have «been able to reach artist-first agreements with every other label and publisher. Clearly, Universal's self-serving actions are not in the best interests of artists, songwriters and fans.»

Last week, Negative White reported on an incident where unknown scam artists uploaded an AI-generated album in the name of Swiss rock trio Bell Baronets. Since then, the story has been picked up by Swiss magazine Beobachter.

But also, more fake album uploads have been reported. Another Swiss band, Basement Saints, came forward. Like with Bell Baronets, the album has been removed from their profile but lives on in a namesake artist profile, hurting their search results on Spotify.

Today, an album has been uploaded to the profile of Mama Jefferson, another Swiss rock band. However, the band is currently on a hiatus since the previous singer, Vanja Vukelic, emigrated from Switzerland.

Bell Baronets’ Silvan Gerhard, who is also a member of Mama Jefferson, confirmed to Negative White last week that the band remains currently on a break.

AI Increases A Known Problem

As the New York Times wrote several days ago: «For $20, artists can buy an annual subscription to a music distributor, a company that can instantly post songs to dozens of streaming platforms.» And further: «Some marketers have been caught trying to juice the profile of legitimate artists, usually with “bot farms” programmed to play songs on repeat. More often, though, scammers simply create white noise tracks or A.I.-generated tunes on their computers.»

The scheme of abusing the lacklustre verification process between aggregators and streaming platforms we described last week is also a long-known problem. Already in 2019, Pitchfork reported on the issue—including the typical empty corporate statements by both aggregator companies like DistroKid and streaming platforms (DSPs) like Spotify.

However, today’s generative AI tools enhance the problem’s severity: Songs and albums are created within minutes. Last year, Spotify reportedly removed «tens of thousands» of songs from the platform.

Trust Will Fade

Since we are dealing with a loophole that has been publicly known for years, one might wonder why aggregators and DSPs couldn’t put guardrails in place. Technically, it wouldn’t be a significant challenge.

But they don’t seem to care enough, and why would they? Whether it’s a legitimate upload or not, they take a cut of the money anyway. And if the fake uploads primarily affect bands operating under the radar, their reputation won’t take a blow, and legal ramifications are highly unlikely.

AI-generated music will undoubtedly become the music business’ biggest challenge in 2024. Dealing with emerging problems like these fake uploads should be a top priority. Otherwise, musicians must ask themselves why they should invest time and money to build their brands only to be abused by scammers who profit from their efforts.